Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-10-21
DAM OF SEA FOAM, 2:24 ~. AND
FIFTY-RACE TROTTER.

DAM Or SEA fOAM, Z:ZA ~, ANU
FiFTY-RACE TROTTER.
In speaking of this mare in recent ed
itorial we said she could hare oossbly
have been by Harris Hambet 1 This
remark might have seemed t Jased
upon her form, but was not J At.ed to
be. 1t was based upon the knowledge
we had of her history. We publish be-
low letter from Orson Smith of Smiths
Young Columbus fame. The informa-
ton that we had that she was bought
from livery stable in Boston, and came
from Maine, was from another reliable
source, but may not be true:
KANSAS CITY, Mo-, Dec. IA, 1885.
JOSEPH BATTELL, ESQ, L SIR
Your letter of the 18th inst. audIessed to
me reached its destination by due course
of mail. The information you seek rela-
tive to the pedigree of the dam Of Sea
Foam regret to be unable to help you
to, though l think perhaps l know as
much about it as any one you would be
able to find. l did what | could while
the old mare was alive to locate her an
cestry, but made very little Roadway in
the matter. Mr.. Joseph Billings-now
dead-of West Roxbury, Mass, knew her
when driven on the road about Boston,
but only knew her as a very good road
mare. Billings is the man who owned
Sea Foam when taken to Boston. This
man and the man Vinson, who bred her,
were the only ones that | ever found that
had any acquaintance with her. Vinson
used to tell me she was a Messenger mare
and that he bought her as such, but l was
satisfied he knew nothing about it, At
the time he became her owner the dealers
in Boston called everything Messenger,
especially all the grey ones.
As am unable to help you as to her
line of descent will do what | can for
you in furnishing her history so far MS
have it. She was owned and driven on
the road by a school teacher by the name
of Vinson, who lived in a town near Bos-
ton-Dedham, | think. Vinson sent her
to Roe to breed to Ethan Allen. She
foaled horse colt by him. | think Vim
son took the colt home, but am not sure !;
any way never heard of him after.
After raising this colt the mare was sent
to us to breed to Columbus. She had two
mare colts by hm-Sea Foam the first; the
second one was taken TO Boston by Bill
lings and was | think IA very good mare.
though of course long way inferior to
her sister or | would know more of her.
The old mare-Vinson mare, as we called
her-was in color grey, al.l what horse
men would describe as IA blocky kind of
horse, about Is l-2 hands high with a
shortish neck and rather coarse head,
which she carried rather low to be called
stylish. She had Il remarkable good set
of legs and feet and died with old aye as
sound as colt. her weight in driving
condition 1000 lbs, stout. We thought
perhaps she might have been one of the
very last of the Harris Horse get; in
deed, we called her Hambletonian, but
only was authorized to do so by her color
and good qualities: being in every par
ticular perfectly kind, safe for any per-
son in the world to drive; could be left
anywhere without hitching; could trot
in Just about three minutes, and no man
ever saw better road horse than she, as
twelve miles an hour was no big job for
her, as Henry Hawley would attest, if he
was alive now. We let Hawley drive her
one winter; after that winters expert
ence with her he always insisted she was
the best horse ever broken to harness.
Your letter being written on Addison
House paper, whose proprietor-Mr. Ri
der--I used to know quite well and with
whom my acquaintance and intercourse
WcTt always VI very lTlcuuly ClldIdCIcI
on the part of both; believe and hope
he would be glad to hear that l have not
forgotten him. pray you then to say
to him that l desired you to remember
me to him. To Ike Williamson, too, l
send a God speed, and to my good friend,
Fuller Pierce, send every good wish and
blessing in my possession. l heartily
wish / could be with them a day or two
the coming Christmas.
trust you will pardon me for so long
communication, which really gives you
no information you sought to obtain.
Yours respectfully,
ORsoN SMITH,
Ills Holly St., Kansas City,
Does Mr.. Wallace wish to persist in
calling this mare by Harris Hambleton-
ian. If so, will he tell us why? The
world of breeders, all of them, have had
about enough of this kind of pedigree
We feel positive that Mr.. Chester will
not admit it, or any similar one that his
attention Is called to, into his book
There isn't one chance in thousand thai
it is true, and the falsehood of putting il
in is an outrage against every breeder.
But 1t is precisely similar as--well, We
will take up Mr.. Wallace's pedigrees and
enumerate little. We quote from his